Psalm 121 explained: Help From the One Who Never Sleeps

Looking to the hills (vv. 1-2)

This psalm is headed "a song of ascents," probably sung by pilgrims walking up to Jerusalem, so the hills may be the road's dangers, hilltop shrines to other gods, or Jerusalem's own hills; scholars are unsure which. Either way, the answer looks past the hills to the one who made heaven and earth.

A guard who stays awake (vv. 3-4)

On rough hill paths a slipped foot could mean serious injury, and a human night guard could doze off. The psalm says the LORD, who guards the whole people of Israel, never drowses or sleeps.

Shade from sun and moon (vv. 5-6)

Shade at your right hand pictures someone standing close beside you, shielding you from the fierce sun. Many people then believed the moon could also bring harm or sickness, so day and night together means protection at every hour.

Kept in every coming and going (vv. 7-8)

The Hebrew word for watching or keeping runs through the whole psalm, about six times, and here it covers your whole life. Going out and coming in was a way of saying all your journeys and daily business, now and always.

Key verse: Psalm 121:2

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether the psalm's promise of protection means physical safety in this life or a deeper keeping of a person's life and soul even when bad things happen.

Something to think about

When you feel unsafe or uncertain, where do you instinctively look for help, and how well has that held up?